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Ross residents are being offered a free British sign language taster session next month. According to Deaf Direct, there are around 26,000 people living in Herefordshire with a hearing loss. In August, the charity is holding a taster session where people can find out more about sign language.
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With the Beijing Olympics just weeks away, a Chinese woman who lives in Worcester has been working hard to help visitors to her country learn the official language of Mandarin. Irene Leung has, for the past year, been working on a website which teaches Mandarin online and instructs the users in Chinese culture. www.link-global.com uses video and sound clips to present both words and phrases, as well as animation clips that demonstrate how to write Chinese characters.
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All secondary students should be encouraged to learn a language says Moseley Language College Headteacher, David Peck.
"The diversity of languages is central to the cultural richness of our society and the world in which we live and work." he said and added that language learning is also the key to bringing communities together:
"The high value we place on language learning and students’ linguistic skills has supported our work on diversity and inclusion, helping us to build mutual respect between young people and to foster a strong community spirit."
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Pupils at James Brindley Science College, in Chell, sampled lessons in Italian, Polish, Chinese Mandarin, Dutch and Spanish recently when they staged a languages day. About 120 students from year seven took part in the taster sessions, with each pupil choosing two languages and picking up basic vocabulary from native speakers. They also got to sample food from different countries and heard a talk from a Michelin worker, who explained how the ability to speak languages can open up lots of job opportunities.
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Students at a Warwick school found a way to combine sewing with foreign languages this term. As part of textiles coursework, pupils at Aylesford School made multilingual ‘welcome’ banners to celebrate the school’s status as a language college.
Technology teacher Patricia Sixsmith said: “This is a new initiative for our younger students and they really embraced the challenge.
“They were very imaginative and produced some excellent pieces. The project was a great success and highlighted how working together in teams can produce excellent results.”
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Adult learners from around the world got together in Burton to celebrate and share their cultural backgrounds. The English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) event was held at the New Baptist Church Hall on Derby Street, and organised by Burton College.
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Staff at Burton College tried their hands at sign language as part of Adult Learners Week. The session at the Lichfield Street campus covered finger-spelling, signing names, and asking basic questions in British Sign Language.
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Bromyard language students gave-up their half-term holidays for extra lessons in French. More than 20 students from Queen Elizabeth Humanities College enjoyed a four-day trip to Normandy last week. Students visited the Bayeux Tapestry, the Memorial Museum in Caen, and the American War Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer.
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Herefordshire teachers attended a unique conference last week to help them open their pupils’ minds to other languages, cultures and traditions. The Global Child Conference, held at the city’s Three Counties Hotel, was organised by Herefordshire Council’s school improvement service for primary school teachers and teaching assistants. More than 50 delegates learned about the benefits of creating international links in the classroom and developing creative approaches to modern languages teaching.
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Books in Polish, Czech and Russian have been ordered by libraries in Walsall to cope with the influx of foreign nationals into the borough.Workers from the eastern European states can now read a selection of books in their native language after several requests to the borough council.
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Children at Upton Primary School have been sharpening their language skills during their annual Arts Week. This year the week has had a language focus, giving students the chance to show off their skills in French, Spanish and German, which are all part of the school's curriculum. Younger children worked on dance routines while their older counterparts produced entertainment in all three foreign languages.
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Doug Lawrence, of Amicus TransTec, would like to know your views about the future requirements of translation and interpreting. As part of his research for a forthcoming ITI presentation, Doug has created an online survey to find out what you believe will be important in the future for freelance translators and interpreters. It is hoped the survey results will help those new to the industry to be better prepared.
Anyone who completes the online survey will be sent a summary of the results after the presentation on 7 June.
Click here to take part in the survey.
CILT, the National Centre for Languages, has teamed up with Routledge to run a competition to celebrate Adult Learners Week. All you have to do is answer two simple questions for the chance to win one of five Routledge Colloquial language learning packs in the language of your choice.
The closing date of the competition is 13 June 2008.
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Language teachers at the Coleshill School are celebrating after a visit to BMW's Hams Hall engine plant helped to double languages uptake. Earlier this year, nineteen Year 9 students toured the Coleshill-based plant and took part in language activities and discussions as part of the Business Language Champions programme. Thanks to this visit and the continued enthusiasm of the department, the number of students opting to take German has doubled!
Find out more by downloading the press release (pdf 83KB) 
Schools in the Black Country are forking out thousands of pounds to pay for interpreters for children who do not speak English. Despite employing bilingual classroom assistants and teaching pupils basic English before they enter a class, schools are still having to fork out around £25 per hour for interpreters for new pupils who have no English whatsoever.
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Teachers at Paget High School in Burton are celebrating after the number of students opting to take languages more than doubled with help from a local entrepreneur. Angela Maxwell, Director of Acuwomen - the UK’s first company to bring an all-women group of entrepreneurs under one roof - visited the school earlier this year to promote the importance of language skills, as part of the Business Language Champions programme. Thanks to her input and the continued efforts of the department, the number of students opting to take languages post-14 has more than doubled!
Find out more by downloading the press release (pdf 84KB)
Youngsters from Thomas Alleyne's High School, Uttoxeter, are celebrating their business acumen, after competing in a Burton-based competition. Two teams of Year 12 students competed against the area's finest in the Young Enterprise programme. Thomas Alleyne's company ETC were the overall winners - with their business which supports and promotes French as a compulsory subject for primary school children, and have already produced an interactive language CD and book package.
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If you would like to enhance your company's prospects in either Japan or Korea why not propose a candidate for the Executive Training Programme? The ETP, a unique intensive professional development programme, targets executives working for dynamic EU corporations and provides them with a most insightful and detailed knowledge of the Japanese and Korean economy, language and business culture.
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A staggering 40 per cent of primary schoolchildren in Birmingham do not speak English as their first language. Figures published by the DCSF, as part of a school census, show that 31,869 of the city's pupils have a foreign language as their main tongue. Experts worry that rising levels of immigration and lack of mulitlingual teachers will provide serious challenges to schools.
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A survey published yesterday by CBI showed that employers highly value communication skills, with 75% seeing conversational ability in languages as a desirable skill in applicants. Conversational ability in languages was seen as highly desirable, with 75% of senior executives saying they look for this skill in applicants, as they see this as a means of building relationships and showing businesses abroad that UK firms are prepared to make the effort.
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Students at Kenilworth School were urged to put languages top of their agenda recently when they were visited by a local entrepreneur. Angela Maxwell, MD of Acuwomen, the UK’s first company to bring an all-women group of entrepreneurs under one roof, visited the school to talk with Year 8 and 9 pupils about the importance of language skills in the business world.
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Pottery giant Churchill China is translating its Dining Out website into three languages to boost sales from mainland Europe. Internet surfers will soon be able to read about the company in Spanish, German and French. Spain is currently the company's biggest export market. The company hopes to enhance relationships with overseas customers by presenting information in their own language.
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Students at Lyndon School in Solihull learnt the true value of language skills recently when they were visited by a local translation company. Liz Athey, operations manager at Roevin Translation Services visited the Daylesford Road school to speak to students about the importance of language skills in the world of work. This visit, part of the Business Language Champions programme, was designed to increase the number of students opting to take languages post-14.
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Students at Kings Norton Girls’ School put languages top of their agenda recently when they were visited by a local entrepreneur. Angela Maxwell, MD of Acuwomen, the UK’s first company to bring an all-women group of entrepreneurs under one roof, visited the school on 21 February 2008, to talk with Year 9 pupils about the importance of languages in business.
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One quarter of UK companies have lost out on business because their staff cannot speak a foreign language, according to research released today by publisher of the Teach Yourself Business Languages Series. The independent research conducted by Gfk NOP reveals that insufficient language skills in the workplace has meant that 17% of companies have not been able to pitch for business globally.
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Students from Paget High School in Burton learnt the true value of continuing with their language studies when they were visited by a local entrepreneur. Angela Maxwell, former European advisor to UK Trade & Investment and director of Birmingham-based Fracino, visited the school on 5 February to talk with students about the importance of languages in business.
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Students at Queen Elizabeth’s Mercian School in Tamworth learnt the true value of their language lessons recently when they were visited by the manager of a local company. Export sales manager, Mark Hall, visited the school on 24 January to share his experience of using languages.
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Pete Vaughan, business development manager of Redditch-based storage and logistics company, Oakland International Ltd, went back to the classroom recently to encourage pupils to broaden future career prospects by increasing their language skills. Pete visited Arrow Vale Community High School in Redditch to deliver language-based presentations and activities to over eighty Year 9 students, as part of the Business Language Champions programme.
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Pupils from the Coleshill School were encouraged to continue with their language studies recently when they visited BMW’s Hams Hall engine plant. Nineteen Year 9 students toured the Coleshill-based plant and took part in language-based activities and discussions as part of the Business Language Champions programme.
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Students at Harris School in Rugby learnt the true value of language skills recently when they were visited by a local bilingual director. Gisèle Pellegrini, director of Rugby-based Positive G visited the school on 18 January to talk to students about the importance of languages in the world of work, as part of the Business Language Champions programme.
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A law firm has opened a Birmingham unit to support the rising number of Polish workers who may suffer injuries at work. Russell Jones and Walker will help and advise Poles working in the city on personal injury claims. The firm claims workers are at risk from workplace dangers such as health and safety issues, which could be caused by the language barrier.
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Children from Whitehouse Common Primary School in Sutton Coldfield recently welcomed Kansas bear, all the way from America, as part of their 'Voices of the World' e-twinning project, which enables pupils to learn and share songs from other languages and cultures.
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